Truman Assigns Four Vessels to Speed Transportation of Dp’s from Germany to U.S.

December 20, 1946

Washington (Dec. 19)

President Truman has assigned four ships to expedite the movement to the United States of 2,100 displaced persons with U.S. visas, who have been delayed at Bremerhaven due to lack of shipping, the White House announced today. The vessels accommodate approximately nine hundred passengers each and will be kept in this service, the president said, “until the situation has been fully relieved.”

Pointing to the “serious situation” among the displaced persons, who include 177 orphaned children, and who “are crowded into an embarkation center designed to accommodate only transients,” the President said that “mindful of the bleak Christmas ahead for these people who have already suffered so much, I have taken up this matter with the Maritime Commission and can hold out hope of early improvement.”

Mr. Truman opened his statement with a reference to his directive of December 22, 1945, to a number of executive agencies, “designed to facilitate the immigration of refugees and displaced persons up to the full limit provided by the immigration law. “Up to October 21, 1946, only 4, 767, persons were provided for under these arrangements,” the President declared. “At the present time, foreseeable sailings in 1946 will provide for only 683 more persons.”

The ships designated for the Bremerhaven run are the Ernie Pyle, to sail from New York on Dec. 20 and arrive there New Year’s Day, the Marine Marlin, leaving New York Dec. 27 and reaching Bremerhaven Jan. 6, and the Marine Flasher, arriving in Bremerhaven January 8. The Marine Falcon, now in the pacific, will arrive in Bremerhaven in late January.